Inside Track: Rebellion in the Air

The administration’s initial lack of a clear action plan was evident in the fact that savvy, poised young protesters decisively set the narrative online, breathing new life into a demoralised opposition.

Some journalists and students recounted the brutality of the men in uniform, but mostly, the Delhi cops reacted to confrontation simply by blowing their whistles. A desperate Delhi Police even enlisted a retired police spokesperson to counter the anti-police publicity.

5 min readOct 18, 2026 07:07 AM IST First published on: Oct 18, 2026 at 07:07 AM IST

A hugely disproportionate deployment of police force, coupled with unnecessary barricades, train cancellations, internet disconnections, etc, was a public relations disaster for the Centre Saturday before last. It advertised domestically and internationally a siege-like situation in the Capital — all merely to keep the CJP protesters at bay — and reflected the Centre’s decision-making paralysis. In contrast, Devendra Fadnavis was praised for allowing protesters to demonstrate peacefully at Shivaji Park without using unnecessary force.

The administration’s initial lack of a clear action plan was evident in the fact that savvy, poised young protesters decisively set the narrative online, breathing new life into a demoralised opposition. The refreshing glasnost was reflected in dozens of memes, showing media persons and self-proclaimed influencers lecturing policemen about citizens’ rights. Some journalists and students recounted the brutality of the men in uniform, but mostly, the Delhi cops reacted to confrontation simply by blowing their whistles. A desperate Delhi Police even enlisted a retired police spokesperson to counter the anti-police publicity. But, by the end of the week, the protesters had overplayed their hand. After selecting two burning issues that resonated with the public, their latest demand to raise the national flag in prohibited spaces may not receive popular endorsement, particularly during the festive season.

The prevailing rebellious mood has spread even to the usually rigidly disciplined ruling party. Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram last month publicly said that he intended to remain in the Cabinet and would not be easily pushed out by party colleagues defaming him. After the names of the new BJP nominees for Uttar Pradesh were announced, two-time MP Dharmendra Kumar Kashyap posted a photograph of a sunset, captioned “Tata Bye-Bye”. Later, he said that he and his followers would decide which alternative party to join.

Amit Shah’s Unmistakable Style

The selection of eight unknown, untested young BJP candidates for UP’s Rajya Sabha seats was interpreted by some pundits as evidence that Amit Shah’s influence is waning, since UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is not displeased with the list. The final choices though were made at the home minister’s residence with party president Nitin Nabin and BJP’s general secretary (organisation) GL Santosh present. The list sent shock waves since veteran parliamentarians, political heavyweights, and well-connected aspirants, such as Maneka Gandhi, Smriti Irani, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Dharmendra Kumar Kashyap, Kaushal Kishore, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri, and Kalyan Singh’s son Rajeev Singh, were excluded (even RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary was not obliged though he was keen to end Akhilesh Yadav’s taunts of him being a perennial turncoat, something that has been clear from him continuing as a Rajya Sabha MP, thanks to SP votes). Adityanath actually did not have a list of candidates; he merely ensured that no one who had attempted to undermine him was included. The list bore Shah’s trademark stamp of elevating unknown nominees out of nowhere on regional and electoral calculations.

Rahul Gandhi’s Outsider Choices

Rahul Gandhi pointedly distanced himself from the CJP leaders initially, even though they were responsible for igniting an anti-government mood among the youth and were fighting the same cause. Gandhi was reportedly told by several Congress persons that the antecedents of Abhijeet Dipke and others were ambiguous. They objected to Dipke’s earlier links to the AAP; others saw a foreign hand. Some even suspected them of being BJP moles. In contrast, at last Monday’s Congress rally, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi conspicuously accorded special treatment to Neha Bora, president of the All India Students’ Association. Neha travelled with the Gandhis and senior Congress leaders on a bus and walked alongside them during a march. Rahul Gandhi’s tendency to seek advice from outsiders, such as late Sitaram Yechury, while snubbing his own loyalists has long been a source of heartburn for the party. This tendency has often backfired, for instance, in Gujarat, where agitation leaders Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor double-crossed the Congress and joined the BJP. By the weekend, Gandhi had inched closer to the CJP leaders, defending Dipke and Das after their arrest for their trespass at Jantar Mantar.

Delimitation Bill on Hold

With the divided opposition closing ranks on the issue of Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, the government’s ambitious plan to pass its much-hyped delimitation bill 2026 seems to have been derailed, at least temporarily. The ruling party had hoped to pass the constitutional amendment by relying on the DMK’s strength of 22 MPs to manage a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Though DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin has walked out of the INDIA bloc, he has now made clear that the demand for Kumar’s resignation remains non-negotiable. Could the Supreme Court’s adjudication make a difference?